Ice Storm

Just a quick note to let everyone know we have had a huge ice storm here in Kentucky. Today makes day five with no power! I am using my sister's computer, whom just got power herself yesterday. I just wanted to let everyone know I will process all your orders and get started on them as soon as the power is restored. Many Blessings,
Jill

Garden Tea Cottage

My mom, my three sisters, my niece and I had a day out at this wonderful place in our town. The name of it is the Garden Tea Cottage. I had a yummy bowl of chili and a slice of Oatmeal Cake. Everything was so yummy! If you are ever through Salyersville, Kentucky make sure you stop in and see Debbie. She also has a primitive shop right beside the Garden Tea Cottage. It's called The Keeping Room, she carries lots of primitives and handmades.

We had a wonderful warm sunny day here..........this kind of weather makes me long for spring. Hope you all had a blessed day.

Jill

Clearing out My Nest

This time every year I get a yearning to clear out my nest, rearrange and get rid of no longer needed items. However I went about it a little different this year. I have been on a two day cleaning, reorganizing hiatus. I packed away most of my beloved treasures I have picked up over the years, placed them in boxes and stored them in the workshop. Hopefully I will be able to move into the new house this summer or fall. As I look around my home now I left only a few items and things that are used often. I was shocked at how easily and quickly I am able to clean house with less. I laughed out loud when baking bread because I actually had room to prepare the bread. Which is strange for me as I am usually forced to move things around before I can even begin cooking! AHhhhh I am beginning to enjoy this uncluttered life.

Blessings,

Jill

Home Made Doggie Treats

Boy oh boy is it ever cold out! Temps got down to -2 last night and we are expecting -6 tonight. Hope you guys are staying warm. I wanted to share my recipe for home made dog treats. My oldest dog Daisy has food allergies. When she was little her paws would itch and get red, she would constantly lick them. She also got little knots all over body. I finally figured out it was food allergies. I tried virtually every dog food and nothing helped, I even bought the kind the vet sells. Nothing helped, and Daisy seemed miserable. Thank goodness I finally found a dog food that agrees with her. It's called Nutro Natural Choice, and it sure was a life saver. All three of my doggies eat it and they coats are nice and shiny. I started making these treats because my Daisy can't eat most commercial treats either. Here is my basic recipe!

Home Made Dog Treats

2 cups whole wheat flour

parsley

1 egg

chicken broth

Mix the flour with one egg and a good pinch of parsley (acts as a breath aid) Stir in enough broth to moisten the dough to where it will hold together but not be sticky. Roll dough out on a board sprinkled with cornmeal. Roll to 1/4" thick and cut with cutter. Bake at 350 until brown and crispy. Treats can be stored up to 2 weeks in a zip bag or frozen.

Wash Day

Once a week I do laundry. Mind you laundry is the one household chore I do not enjoy. I have been reading Forgotten Household Crafts by John Seymour. While doing laundry today I was very surprised by the chapter on washing. Here are some laundry facts you may or may not know.

1. Well into the nineteenth century, linen was bleached using urine, which contains ammonia.

2. Potato grating and rice were boiled down to make starch.

3. The sun was a great bleacher. The linen was laid out on the village "bleaching green" where it was whitened by the sun.

4. The rich, who owned many clothes, employed washer women to come and do their washing once every six weeks in a mammoth washing session that usually lasted four days!

5. The poor whom had only the clothes on their backs washed their clothes before retiring to bed and could only hope they would be dry in the morning.

Lol, I may never complain about doing laundry again!!! Blessings,

Jill

(photo from Forgotten Household Crafts Book)

Rain Rain Go Away

Spring Onions
Kissy hanging out on the couch

Ahhhhhh it's still raining here in Kentucky. Don't get me wrong I love rain........what I don't love is MUD. Lol, I slid down the hill to the barn and landed flat on my back the other day. No worries, I wasn't injured! I just got a sore back from the deal and I looked mighty goofy covered in mud all down back. I have been doing other things besides sliding around in the mud. I made these onions from a Sassafras Hill Primitives pattern for Simply Primitives this month. Also I tackled a very ambitious (for me) project. I made this reversible smock that Velcros in the back (didn't take a pic). It was challenging for me because I am not a ironing and hemming type of sewer. Over all I was pleased with how it turned out but not so sure I will make another. Unless maybe for gifts. From the kitchen I have a big pot of chicken soup going........some for now and some to freeze (hubby hates soup). Wishing you all a blessed day!

Jill

A Dreary January Day

Beeswax Snowmen Bowl Fillers (made using a Homespun Heart mold)

Anna (made using a TFC Folk art Pattern)

Real Bird Nest on a Box with Hand-Sculpted Beeswax Eggs

Lard Can



Pickled Pigs Feet Can

It's a dreary, rainy day here today. The weather has turned much cooler and we are expecting up to two inches of rain. I have a big pot of veggie soup bubbling away on the stove. Over the last couple of days I have made many things to offer on the website. I don't know about you guys but in my workshop I have a old metal basket and all the bodies and projects that get pushed aside end up in this basket. When business is slow (like now) I like to finish things from this basket. It drives me nuts to have unfinished things lying around, but when orders come these things must wait. Have a blessed evening!

Jill

Country Fare

I spent most of my Saturday in the kitchen preparing my contributions to the meal for today's church service. The recipe for the shepherd's pie and the bread came from my new favorite magazine, Hobby Farms. Lol, I don't have a farm but when I make the move to the house I would love to raise chickens and goats and be more self-sufficient! I have so many plans for that little homestead! I hope you enjoy these recipes and hope you all have a blessed Sunday.

Jill

Shepherd's Pie

4 to 5 lg. potatoes, prepared as mashed potatoes

3/4 pound ground beef

1 med. onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 T. Olive Oil

3 lg. cloves of garlic, chopped

1 c. frozen whole kernel corn

paprika

Prepare mashed potatoes according to your favorite recipe.

Warm the olive oil in a large frying pan and saute' onions and garlic over med. heat until translucent, about 2-4 min. Add ground beef and cook until done. Turn meat into med. sized casserole dish. Spread mashed potatoes over all, to edges of the dish to seal. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 min. until edges start to turn brown.

Serves 4

Hearty English Muffin Bread



Shaker Pound Cake

1/2 c. shortening

1 c. butter
3 c. granulated sugar

5 eggs, separated

3 c. all purpose flour

1 t. baking powder

1 c. milk

2 t. vanilla

With electric mixer cream butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time. Sift flour with baking powder and add alternately with milk to batter. Add vanilla. Beat egg whites stiff and fold into batter. Bake in a greased and floured bundt or angel food cake pan at 325 for one and one-half hours. Time may vary according to your oven.

Happy New Year

I just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! We had church last night, we had a wonderful church service with guest preachers, lots of food and some new faces. We rang in the new year singing Precious Memories. Today my dad cooked us an old fashioned breakfast on his wood burning cook stove. We had gravy, biscuits, fried cured ham and fried eggs. It was sure a yummy meal. Hope you all had a wonderful day. I only made one New Year's Resolution and that was to start getting up earlier. Lol, I tend to stay up to the wee hours of the morning and then sleep half the day away the following day.

Blessings,

Jill